Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🛏️ Very simple 🛡️ Brave and tough
spartan

spartan

7.6
Brave and self-controlled when facing pain or hardship
  • adjective
  • /ˈspɑrtən/
translation icon : espartano
  • Despite the harsh conditions, the team displayed a spartan spirit during the challenging climb.

Examples

  • It calls for spartan endurance.

    The Glass Menagerie (1987)

  • Sad because of their antiquity and their exemplary and purely Spartan steadfastness...

    Fiction book (1996)

  • Their spartan lifestyle meant they had few possessions and lived without unnecessary luxuries.

  • In the face of adversity, her spartan attitude helped her maintain focus and determination.

Antonyms

cowardly
84 3.9

Feeling fear and avoiding dangerous or difficult situations

How Stoic

unflinching
8 6.6
stoic
1 6.3
spartan
7.6
resolute
21 4.9
brave
906 1.0

Surface Forms

spartan positive

Morphology

spartan = Sparta (semi-transparent) = Sparta + an

The adjective is formed from the place name 'Sparta' with the productive suffix '-an', but understanding the meaning requires cultural/historical knowledge of Spartan austerity rather than purely compositional semantics.

Etymology

Spartan comes from the Greek city Sparta, known for soldiers who faced danger and pain with little complaint and great discipline. So calling someone spartan means they are 'brave' and have strong 'self-control' when times are hard.